Posts

Lessons From Generation Work on Incorporating Positive Youth Development Into Employment Training

By Kristin Anderson Moore, Hannah Lantos, and Zakia Redd, Reprinted from Child Trends Moore, K.A., Lantos, H., & Redd, Z. (2023). Lessons from Generation Work on incorporating positive youth development into employment training. Child Trends.  https://www.childtrends.org/blog/lessons-from-generation-work-on-incorporating-positive-youth-development-into-employment-training Generation Work, an initiative launched by the Annie E. Casey Foundation in 2016, aims to connect more of America’s […]

Quarterly spotlight on students’ social capital: Updates from the field on measuring students’ networks

By Julia Freeland Fisher, Reprinted from the Christensen Institute Newsletter Dear Friends, For the years we’ve been studying students’ access to and ability to mobilize social capital, by far the most common question we receive is “How do you measure it?” The “it” in that question is often evasive. Boiling relationships down to a single […]

2023 Summer Institute on Youth Mentoring

Overview The 14th annual Summer Institute on Youth Mentoring will be held in-person at Portland State University in July 2023. The upcoming Summer Institute will focus on the theme of mentoring to address the public health issue of loneliness and social isolation. Sessions with leading scholars will explore how mentoring can promote connection, social inclusion, […]

Do program practices matter for mentors? New study has answers

Keller, T. E., Drew, A. L., Herrera, C., Clark-Shim, H., & Spencer, R. (2023). Do program practices matter for mentors?: How implementation of empirically supported program practices is associated with youth mentoring relationship quality. Journal of Community Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.23019 Summarized by Ariel Ervin Notes of Interest: The quality and nature of mentor-mentee relationships have an influential impact […]

The importance of engagement for adolescents in afterschool programs

Sjogren, A. L., Zumbrunn, S., Broda, M., Bae, C. L., & Deutsch, N. L. (2022). Understanding afterschool engagement: Investigating developmental outcomes for adolescents. American Journal of Community Psychology, 69, 169– 182. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12554 Summarized by Charlotte Styron and Ariel Ervin Notes of Interest:  Evidence suggests that participating in high-quality after-school programs promotes positive youth development & academic outcomes. […]

New study explores how to incorporate a positive youth development framework.

Rajagopal, S., Harper, K., Holzhauer, K., & Kumra, T. (2022). Utilization of positive youth development framework by youth-facing organizations in Baltimore city. Journal of Youth Development, 17(4). https://doi.org/10.5195/jyd.2022.1225 Summarized by Ariel Ervin Notes of Interest:  Positive youth development (PYD) is an approach that encourages youth to be productive, healthy, and engaged in their communities. Evidence shows […]

Study suggests ways to strengthen post-pandemic connections

O’Regan, C., Brady, B., & Connolly, C. (2022). Building back better – Using an ecological lens to argue for strengthening mesosystemic connections for young people in a post pandemic world. Child Care in Practice.  https://doi.org/10.1080/13575279.2022.2084364 Summarized by Ariel Ervin Notes of Interest:  It is evident that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will have long-term effects. Its disruptions […]

Six best practices to maximize youth leadership in out-of-school time programs

Wu, J. H.-C., Shereda, A., Stacy, S. T., Weiss, J. K., & Heintschel, M. (2022). Maximizing youth leadership in out-of-school time programs: Six best practices from youth driven spaces. Journal of Youth Development, 17(3).  https://doi.org/10.5195/jyd.2022.1179 Summarized by Ariel Ervin Notes of Interest:  Youth-adult partnerships (Y-AP) are becoming a common approach to encouraging people to participate in youth […]

How can turning points facilitate change among care-experienced youth?

Roberts, L., Scourfield, J., & Taussig, H. (2022). Insights into turning points from the perspective of young people with out-of-home care experience: Events, impact and facilitators of change. Developmental Child Welfare, 4(4), 237–252.  https://doi.org/10.1177/25161032221118910 Summarized by Ariel Ervin Notes of Interest:  Evidence suggests that out-of-home-care (aka care-experienced) youth have an increased risk of mental health issues, substance/alcohol […]

What were youth development staff members’ experiences during COVID-19?

Woodberry-Shaw, D., Akiva, T., & Lewis, S. S. (2022). Youth development staff experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed methods study. Child & Youth Care Forum.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-022-09711-y Summarized by Ariel Ervin Notes of Interest:  Youth development staff play a key role in providing support for young people. This study examined the experiences of youth development […]